Healthy Fats, Butter

Some of the frequent questions I am asked are in regards to fats. Which ones do I eat? How much? Are they healthy? How do I add them in? Will they make me gain weight? What about cholesterol and saturated fat? Over the next several weeks, I will discus different fats, the ones to eat and the ones to avoid.

For this first week, we will begin with my favorite, butter. I am striving to save the world one stick of butter at a time. Some info regarding butter and it's health benefits:

• It is a great source of healthy fats the body needs to function properly and a source of fat soluble vitamins.
• It provides cholesterol that the body needs to produce hormones, create and maintain cell membranes, heal the body of daily wear and tear, provides energy, produces bile, which the body needs to digest fats and absorb fat soluble vitamins, is essentially to the developing baby's brain and nervous system
• It contains vitamin A, the true fat soluble vitamin the body needs to thrive and function optimally.
• It also provides vitamins E, K, K2 and D
• It is a great source of the minerals selenium and iodine 
• The saturated fat has anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties, provides energy, stability to the blood vessels 
• It provides conjugated linoleic acid, CLA, which provides protection against cancer, benefits the immune system, helps with weight lose, help build muscle, helps control diabetes, lowers cholesterol and triglycerides 

This is a very short list, but I hope you begin to understand the amazing benefits of this super food.

With all of the health benefits, here are ways to add in more butter into your daily life:

• Cook with butter. Put in what you need and then some more
• Add butter to your veggies after steaming them
• Bullet proof coffee 
• If you are a grain eater, lather that bread up with butter
• Add some to your soups when serving
• When eating eggs, add extra to them or cream, makes them light and fluffy when scrambled 
• My Hubby's newest one, melt chocolate and put butter in, then allow to cool in clumps, I have to admit I am jealous I did not come up with this one
• When making muffins, add in butter, this will make them moist, and why not melt some extra butter with cinnamon and honey to dip your muffin in
• Add to pancakes, waffles or warmed oats
• Anywhere you can think of, add in butter. 

The best butter to purchase is grass fed, organic, and/or local. The best of the three is grass fed. Go for grass fed as often as you can find it. This will provide the most nutrients.

The next question is: How much? Listen to your body. If you are like me, I did not eat butter growing up, thank you '90's and the hype about butter being so bad for you. When I added butter into my diet, I craved it, that was all I wanted, I could not get enough of it. If you do the same, no worries. After a time this will taper off and your body will settle into the right amount for you. Mine is several table spoons a day, yes daily. We go through about one pound a week, between my husband and I, I eat it with pure joy!

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn